Credit Report Question

Yes, a charged off debt is ok to collect on. A charge off means that the debt was delinquent for 180 days, and officially became a bad debt.

You can send each collection agency 2 letters. The first will demand validation from the collectors, and the second will restrict their communications to written form only. Use return receipt mail.

hi--

Yes, they can. When you deal with a collection agency, most of the time that is not the same company as the one you had the credit with. The original creditor(OC) charged off the debt, and then it gets sold to a collection agency. That collection agency(CA) now owns it and tries to collect on it.

It is important to know that ignoring this will not make it go away. I certainly feel for you, I have been in financial difficulties before myself. The most important thing you can do right now is to learn your rights. There is a law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or fdcpa. It's a federal law that governs the way debt collectors can operate, and what they cannot do to try to collect on a debt. Do a search for 'FDCPA text' on the internet and you will find it. Be sure to read it over and over again and keep a link handy for reference. A lot of CA's dont follow this law. For example, if they have called you, then the law requires that within five days of that call, they send you written notice of your right to dispute this debt, request validation of the debt within 30 days, etc etc. If they did not send you this notice, then they just violated the law. You should also always send a debt validation letter to them. Any letters you send must be sent certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can prove that they got it. A debt validation letter sample can be found here:

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/sample6.html

They are required by law to prove three things to you:

1--that this really is legitimately your debt.
2--that they have the legal right to collect on it.
3--how they got to the amount they claim you owe.

If they do not provide validation to you, then they must not try to collect on the debt. That is federal law. If they dont validate but continue to try to collect, then you can sue them over it, and in my opinion you should at that point. I think of it like this--if they had the legal right to collect the debt, and they had the proof required, then when asked for they should have no problem providing it. So, if they dont provide it and continue to try to collect, they are knowingly breaking federal law. That is a ridiculous chance to take in my eyes if they actually have the ability to meet the law's requirements.

Send out DV letters to those CA's, certified mail return receipt requested. then, post in here what happens. Often, too, CA's send an attempt at validation that does not satisfy "validation" according to the law. If this happens we can help you sort it out.

Bottom line, please understand this--none of this will allow you to get out of your obligations. The only reason I tell you these things is to protect you and to make sure that you dont get scammed out of money. You will still owe legitimate debts and when you are able, you should still pay them. That is my position. Some people try to use things like this as a way to get out of paying, that is not the purpose for it. It's good that you seem willing to take that responsibility. Hopefully we can help you get things on the right track!

Hi

A charged-off account is an outstanding balance that has been delinquent for a period of time, usually 180 days and the lender does not expect to collect it anymore. So what does the lender do? He reports the charge off accounts as bad debt and it is definitely a derogatory remark on your credit report. It is listed as I9 for "installment credit charge-off??????? or R9 for "revolving credit charge-off". A charge off account doesn????????t make you free from the debt, you will be responsible for it. Most of the credit card companies sell their "charged-off" accounts to collection agencies. The collection agencies then start haunting the consumers in the hope that they will pay off the money. And trust me they use all kinds of tactics to squeeze money from you. As you said that you want to settle the matter with them, but I would suggest before you pay them a single penny ask them to validate the debt. Under the fdcpa a CA can not harass you. But they hardly abide by the laws. So you have to be aware of your rights, so they can not bully you.

And another point I would like to mention that if any of your mentioned accounts were charged off more than seven years ago, then it has to be removed from your credit report and a collection agency cannot attempt to collect on it or reenter it.

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Okay, I'm actually working on a settlement with one of them now, the other one I'm paying a little bit each month until I can afford to settle it. Should I be worried that the other five or six have made no contact whatsoever?? Would they try to contact me or would they try to take me to court or anything with no contact? The other two ended up contacting my parents house and I haven't lived there in almost five years. I've never put that address on any of my credit applications or anything, but somehow they get that phone number there and I don't like them harrassing my parents.